Grim Lineage
by VK Studios
Summary: Harry finds out his heritage is not as he thought it was. Independent!Harry, Powerful!Harry, Dumbledore!Bashing.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own HP or anything like that. I do own a large Louisville Slugger baseball bat though...

A/N: I was thinking about this for maybe about 10 minutes, and started it on impulse. Post OotP, pre-HBP, but will not follow canon. I can't kill off Dumbledore if I want to play with/bash him hehe. Plus, I don't like Slughorn or any of the characters introduced in Book 6. I'm also looking for a beta/proofreader, since I'm not that good with paragraph breaks. And without further ado, I present to you…

**Grim Lineage**

by Arclite

Chapter 1 – July 30th, 1996

Harry Potter sat at his desk in Dudley Dursely's spare bedroom at Number 4 Privet Drive, doing his homework by candlelight. After the Order's surprise visit at King's Cross, Vernon had backed down on some restrictions he placed on Harry during the summer. First, Hedwig was allowed to leave the house at night to hunt, as long as she didn't make a mess. Second, Harry was allowed to take his schoolbooks and parchment and the like out of his trunk up to his room as long as no one except himself saw it. His wand was still locked under the stairs along with the rest of his possessions inside his battered school trunk. Third, Harry was given a shorter list of chores to do, but instead of accepting the idea that moving around and doing some work would actually be _healthy_, instead of sitting around and eating, the Dursleys hired a part-time housekeeper to do whatever Harry was relieved of this summer, including cooking and the gardening. Harry sometimes helped the house-keeper with the gardening, as the menial labor helped him take his mind off of…

'_Sirius'_ Harry thought, the slight beginning of tears forming at the edge of his eyes. _'If I'd only went to Grimmauld Place, checked for him instead of taking Kreacher, that bastards word for it. And Dumbledore didn't have to withhold that shit-load of information and just dump it on me right after _**he**_ fell through."_ Harry thought as he felt an unexpected surge of anger when thinking about Dumbledore. The clock struck midnight, as Harry realised he was now 16.

Harry's brooding was interrupted by a tapping on his window. He looked at it and was surprised that, in addition to Hedwig returning from her daily hunting, a large Great-Horned Owl was also flapping at the window, a letter clutched in his talons bearing a strange crest Harry had never seen before. He opened the window. Hedwig flew to her cage and kept watch from there. The strange owl however, dropped the letter onto his bed and flew on top of Harry's wardrobe, apparently waiting. Harry walked over to his bed and picked up the letter. It was addressed to him in some sort of loopy handwriting, similar to Dumbledore's (again, another flash of anger). Harry turned over the letter, unsealed it and pulled out the parchment. He read it, eyes clouding over as he kept going.

_To Mr. Harry James Potter,_

_This letter is being sent to you in the event of the death of one Sirius Orion Black. As he included you in his will, you are requested to attend the public reading of the will on August 10th, 1996 at Gringotts Bank in Diagon Alley. A private reading prior to the public one may be requested by letter. Failure to attend the public reading however, will result in Sirius Orion Black's assets will be automatically divided between his closest living relatives, and your self-appointed guardian, one Narcissa Black-Malfoy, one Bellatrix Black-Lestrange, and one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Please take note that family members that were disowned by the head of the family are not eligible to receive assets. We here at Gringotts hope to see you on the 10th._

_Goldtooth_

_Black Family Accountant_

'_Dumbledore is listed as my "self-appointed" guardian? When the hell did that happen?' _Harry wondered as he put down the letter. Seems Dumbledore was trying to influence his life outside of school at a level higher than he thought. _'I have to listen to that will. Any money deposited in the Malfoy and Lestrange vaults will probably go towards funding one of Voldemort's "anti-muggle" campaigns. But how to sneak out of the house without the Order knowing…?' _Harry decided to sleep on it and see what happened tomorrow. Until a second letter arrived, this time by a Hogwarts owl. Harry slit it open and pulled out a piece of parchment.

_Dear Harry,_

_I am writing this letter to apologize for putting all of this new information on you in such a short span of time. After realising that Sirius was dead, your reaction was somewhat expected, but that can not excuse your behaviour while in my office during the discussion we had. I am hoping that we can still be close and you will tell me anything without hesitation._

_Albus Dumbledore_

'_Old man hopes that I won't do anything stupid and remain loyal to him' _Harry snorted. _'Well, now I know I will be at a private reading, as I doubt Lestrange and Malfoy will be up to attending the public one.' _Harry grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write a letter to Goldtooth.

_To Goldtooth,_

_I have decided to take advantage of your offer of a private reading of the will. I can meet you at Gringotts bank in two days, on August 2nd, 1996. Please give me some sort of sign that this is acceptable, if not, we can arrange for a day to meet._

_Harry James Potter_

Harry sealed the letter and walked over to the wardrobe and held it out for the owl. The owl looked at the letter, nodded, and flew out the window towards Gringotts, Harry assumed. _'I should be able to figure out how to sneak past the Order by tomorrow night, and catch the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron. Until then, sleep,' _Harry finished thinking, and collapsed on his bed, promptly falling asleep.

A/N: Review/Flame! The flames keep me warm at night…


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, let my wish come true tonight. Nope, still don't own HP…

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Sorry it took so long to update this; it was kind of hard to think of ideas for one of the scenes. As for pairings, I don't know if I can write H/G, but if I do, it won't be "Get angry at Harry when he doubts himself" Ginny. It will be "mellow, compassionate" Ginny. On with the story!

Chapter 2 – Diagon Dealings

Once Harry woke up, he immediately got dressed and crept downstairs, lest he wake the Durselys. After a small breakfast of tea and toast, he sat back to think. _'What would be the easiest way to sneak past the Order?'_ Harry's invisibility cloak was the first, most obvious choice. He still needed a way to figure out if a member was on duty though. He suddenly flashed back to his third year for no reason, to the first time he snuck out to Hogsmeade, remembering how the cloak slipped off his head when he was hit by some stray mud. _'Well, invisibility cloaks only make people invisible, not impenetrable, so something like water should be able to permeate it.' _His mind made up, Harry headed outside to kill time until the reading tomorrow. He jogged around the park a few times while avoiding Dudley and his gang. He noticed that the housekeeper was out back, doing a little weeding for the Durselys. He got on his hands and knees as the housekeeper looked at him. "Dunno what you're doing here, but whatever floats your boat," she said and tossed him a pair of gloves. Harry put on the gloves and began weeding. All his thoughts slowly disappeared…until he heard a noise behind him. He turned his head around, but saw nothing. Finding a wet piece of mud, he threw it over his shoulder, pretending it was in his way.

"Shit!" He heard Tonks whisper so the housekeeper didn't hear as she shifted her invisibility cloak to try and get the mud off. Harry smirked, just as he realised it was time for dinner. He threw his gloves in the shed and went inside and washed his hands. The Durselys were already sitting at the table, eating quietly. Well, except for Dudley, who, as usual, was shoving food in his mouth as fast as he was able to. Deciding he didn't want to spend any quality time with his "family" tonight, he put some food on a plate and took it up to his room. Sitting on his bed, he began to think about tomorrow.

"I don't know what shifts Order members work in, otherwise I'd go between them, so I'll wake up early and hope for the best," he thought aloud. _'But they might get suspicious if I don't leave the house all day…nah, they'll just put it down to mourning for __**him**__ or something.' _He still couldn't bring himself to think about Sirius a lot. He figured he would though, eventually. His dreams that night were the ones he had every few days: they were just like the Department of Mysteries, except he could always hear Sirius blaming him. Harry figured that they would go away once he got over Sirius' death, so he decided to wait them out.

Harry opened his eyes and peeked at the clock. 7:00 a.m. Ever so quietly, he got out of bed and slipped on some of Dudley's old clothes and a sweatshirt, all of which were huge on him. He went downstairs and picked the lock on the cupboard underneath the stairs muggle-style, thanking Fred and George for teaching him the summer before second year. As the door swung open, creaking slightly, Harry could see his trunk. Hauling it out, he opened it and pulled out the three things he needed today. First, his wand, then his invisibility cloak, and finally, a small bag of wizard money he always kept at the bottom of the trunk, just in case he needed it. Going to the kitchen, he took a glass and filled it with water. Opening the back door, he sprinkled the water all over the lawn. It fell to the ground harmlessly, as he hoped it would. Slipping on the cloak, he walked over to the fence and quickly climbed over it. Walking through the backyard of the person who lived there, Harry emerged on the street opposite Privet Drive. After removing his cloak and stuffing it under his jacket, he stuffed it under his jacket and flung his wand out towards the street.

_BANG _ the Day Bus appeared before him. The double doors opened and Stan Shunpike stepped down from the steps.

"Welcome to the Day Bus…" he began, but was cut off by Harry.

"The Leaky Cauldron, London," he said, shoving 11 Sickles into his hands, wanting to be discreet.

"Yes, sir," Stan grumbled as he slammed the doors shut and sat down. Forty-five minutes later, Harry stepped off the Day Bus, and heard a bang behind him. Pulling up the hood behind him, Harry entered the Leaky Cauldron and quickly headed for the bathroom. Donning his invisibility cloak, he walked out the back door to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Walking in behind an old witch with 3 legs, Harry quickly made his way down Diagon Alley and into Gringotts Bank. Approaching the closest counter, Harry spoke to the goblin, who was weighing what appeared to be precious jewels.

"My name is Silverfinger. Can I help you?" asked the goblin in a condescending tone, apparently knowing Harry was under an invisibility cloak.

"Yes," said Harry, unfazed. "I'm here for a private reading of the will of Sirius Black."

"Sirius Black eh? And who might you be?" the goblin asks. Harry looked right and left, and lifted the front of his cloak and pulled the hood down.

"Harry Potter," he said.

"If you truly are who you say you are, then you won't mind giving us a sample of blood to verify," the goblin said, holding a small blade out and placing what appeared to be a normal piece of parchment under it. Harry took the blade, and pressed it into his thumb, watching as a drop of blood pooled on his finger. The surface tension snapped, and the drop fell onto the paper as Harry's thumb healed immediately. The blood hit the paper, and began to stretch out, forming the words "Harry James Potter". "Follow me, the goblin said, satisfied. He led Harry down a twisting turn of halls he couldn't remember and finally stopped at a door with gold words embossed on the door. _Goldtooth, Black Family Accountant. _

Silverfinger knocked on the door. "Come in!" They entered Goldtooth's office. It was lushly decorated, with Victorian-era furniture and a large desk in the center. Goldtooth himself was dressed in a red silk shirt and pinstriped black pants, with a large monocle in his left eye. When he smiled, Harry noticed a gold tooth on his bottom row, hence the name. "Ah, Mr. Potter," said Goldtooth. "I've been expecting you. Please, sit," he said, flicking his wrist towards one of the guest chairs. It drew itself out, looking inviting. "My name is Goldtooth," he began. "As you already know, I have been the Black Family Accountant for the past forty years."

'_Wow. Goblins must have some sort of aging trick also,' _Harry thought.

"You are here for the private reading of the will of Sirius Black, am I correct?" Goldtooth inquired, not looking up.

"Yes," Harry nodded.

Goldtooth reached into his desk and pulled out a parchment envelope. Harry accepted it and began to read.

'_Harry, if you are reading this, I have passed. Knowing you, you probably blame yourself for my death (which I hope was most spectacular). Don't do that to yourself Harry. You still have a lot left to live for, don't give in and sink into depression. I've gone through that already in Azkaban. It's not a position you want yourself to be in. You're a great kid Harry; you're going to make some witch very happy one day. It's just a shame I won't be there to see it._

Goldtooth swiveled around in his chair to a bookcase behind him. Pulling a large tome from a shelf, he set it down on his desk. "This is the Black family ledger, keeping track of all assets and property and the like that the Black family owns. According to the ledger you are now in possession of several properties including a large amount of gold and other artifacts. The properties are as listed: A cottage in Devon, a house in Hogsmeade, a flat in London, and a house in London. You are also now in possession of the contents of the Black family vault, which are some twenty million galleons, 200 sickles, and 50 knuts. Would you like a ride down to the vault?"

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Very well. Griphook!" At that moment, a goblin walked in the door. Harry figured Griphook did most of the vault escorting business.

"If you will follow me Mr. Potter I will bring you down to your vault." Harry stood up, thanked Goldtooth and followed Griphook to the cart. Managing to see through the hairpin turns and dark tunnels, Harry noticed they were going deeper in and the numbers on the vaults were getting lower. He decided to ask Griphook.

"Griphook, why are the numbers on the vaults getting smaller?" Harry asked.

"The vaults containing the most gold have the lowest numbers. The Malfoy family vault is number 37," Griphook informed him, also answering Harry's unasked question. Hrry grinned smugly, now knowing Draco Malfoy wasn't as rich as he claimed to be.

The cart then screeched to a stop and they climbed out. Griphook withdrew a key from his pocket and inserted it into the door. After a series of locks clicking on the other side, the vault door swung open and allowed them in. Suddenly, they heard a voice from within. "Welcome…to the most noble and ancient vault of Black…"


End file.
